Just another manic Monday
by mmouse15
Summary: New 'bots are coming to Earth all the time. What happens when Mikaela meets one of the new arrivals? Warnings within.


Title: Just another manic Monday

By: mmouse15

Rating: M

Warnings: language, sex, blood, violence, gore, character death. Yeah.

'Verse: movie

Characters: Mikaela, Arcee, Sam, Bumblebee

Request parameters: Arcee's alt form, Mikaela kidnapped by 'Cons, Arcee and Mikaela bonded or at least some mention of figuring out how; No babies, happy ending, vomit.

This is my first rare pairing story, done in May 2008.

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Mikaela stood on the overlook, watching the sun set. The noises behind her were not natural, but were enjoyable. She turned and looked behind her. Yes, there was Sam, sitting on Bumblebee's foot, listening to Ratchet chew Bee out for 'doing something so fragging stupid'. She chuckled to herself, briefly envying Sam his relationship with Bee, then mentally shook herself and focused once again on the view to the west.

"There!" Ironhide pointed to the streak of light almost obliterated by the sun's rays.

"Another one's over there!" Ratchet this time, catching one slightly higher.

"And the final one." Bumblebee whooped. He gently pushed Sam off his foot and transformed into his alt mode as Ratchet, Optimus, and Ironhide did the same. Mikaela walked over and got in the passenger side of Bumblebee.

"So, who is supposed to be landing?" Mikaela asked.

"Supposedly Prowl, he's the best tactician in the Autobot army, and Wheeljack, he's an engineer, and I think Arcee is supposed to be with them." Bumblebee answered her as they drove onto the road and headed out to rendezvous. "It's hard to know, because the teams that were formed when Optimus decided to go after the Allspark have changed over time as some soldiers were injured or killed. But that's what Ratchet and I were able to get out of the transmission. We'll see soon enough."

Mikaela patted his dashboard. "Thanks. Are you excited?"

"Oh, yeah. Especially if Arcee's with them. She and I fought together before, and she's an awesome warrior. It'll be nice to have her here. Optimus will be very glad if Prowl's here because they are of like processors, and if it's really Wheeljack, I expect that Ratchet and Ironhide will drag him off for a couple of weeks to catch up." Bee was bouncing on his shocks excitedly.

Mikaela and Sam were laughing at the enthusiasm in Bee's voice. Mikaela said, "OK, um…Ratchet, Ironhide, Wheeljack – explanation?"

"Oh, they're all old friends from before the war. Wheeljack would invent things, Ironhide would figure out how to construct it, and Ratchet would fix them when the – whatever-it-was-blew up on them."

"Oh! You made it sound kind of…um…" She trailed off in embarrassment.  
"Smutty?" Bee laughed at her.

"Well, yeah. Sorry. What about Prowl and Optimus?" She forged ahead with her questions.

"They are both highly dedicated to the Autobot cause, and so their goals are very similar. They want the fighting to end but are unwilling to curtail freedoms. They would prefer a vote to end the fighting, but since that realistically won't happen, they will fight carefully. Optimus needs Prowl's steady processor and logical approach right now. He's missing Jazz badly, and the three of them were the top of the command. If Jazz can't be here, Prowl will do just as well. Prowl will need Optimus, too. He and Jazz were best friends and he'll be upset to find out about…well, about Jazz's offlining." Bee's vocalizer went staticky at the last sentence. Ratchet had been unable to save Jazz during the fighting in Mission City, and the friendly Autobot's presence was missed by his team mates.

Sam cleared his throat. "Well, Arcee sounds like she's fun."

Bee shook off his gloomy mood. "Oh, she is. When the war started, she really focused on becoming one of our best warriors, but she's never lost the ability to have fun. She's able to set aside worries and focus on the moment and just enjoy living. It's a great moral boost, just being around her."

Sam looked confused. "Why? I mean, why especially her?"

Bee laughed. "You'll just have to meet her to understand. I can't explain it, and I've tried to do so, but she's just…"

"A bubbly personality?" Mikaela finished. There was the hum that told Sam and Mikaela that he was accessing the internet to figure out what Mikaela had meant.

"Yes. That describes her very well. She's always upbeat, always looking at the positive, always moving forward. Thank you, Mikaela."

"You are quite welcome, Bee."

The remainder of the drive was finished in comfortable silence. They arrived at the closest point a few minutes later, and Bee stopped so they could get out and he could transform. They moved closer to the protoform partially buried in the far edge of the impact crater. Ironhide and Ratchet had continued to the second landing site, while Optimus was heading to the third.

The protoform started to unfurl itself. The teenagers had seen this once before, when Optimus had landed near the observatory, but the sight never got old. It was amazing, and within a minute, the protoform stood before them cautiously eying the teens. Bee had his solar cannon out but pointing down, and he exchanged short staticky bursts with the protoform. Very soon, his cannon folded away and the protoform was sinking down into an alternate mode.

"How…?" Sam asked.

"The internet. We don't need an actual vehicle to scan, although it's nice to have. We just need detailed specifications, " Bee explained.

"Wow!" exclaimed the girl, walking closer to the motorcycle.

"What is it?" Asked Sam, puzzled. His knowledge of cars was minimal, but Mikaela's was not. She answered, absently, "It's a Lotus Elise SC. It goes from 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds, it has a 281 hp engine with 156 ft/lb of torque with the supercharger. I love the red color. " She continued to move toward the new arrival.

Silence followed her explanation. Then Sam said, "How do you know all this stuff? And why do I feel like such a clueless dweeb next to you? And what does that all mean?"

She stopped and turned toward him. "Oh, Sam. You are not a clueless anything, much less a dweeb. I like cars and motorcycles, I grew up with someone who knew a lot about them and taught me because I was interested. I prefer to flip through a car magazine rather than a gossip magazine, and you pick stuff up. The Lotus is a cute car with a punch, and I like it so I keep track of what the company is doing." Mikaela rubbed his arm, comfortingly. "You have different priorities. Don't worry about it." He nodded, and she ducked her head to catch his eyes. "OK? Yes? OK, then stop putting yourself down. You're the savior of our world, remember?" He laughed at her gentle teasing, reminding himself yet again how lucky he was to have her as his friend.

While this had been going on, Arcee (for that is who had landed) had moved toward Bee and they were exchanging large amounts of data by clasping opposite forearms and leaning their foreheads together. As Sam and Mikaela returned their attention to the Autobots, the two broke apart and turned to the human teenagers. Bee acted as host, saying "Arcee, these are my friends, Sam and Mikaela. Sam, Mikaela, this is Arcee, my former team mate. "

"It's very nice to meet you, Sam, and you, Mikaela." Arcee had a beautiful voice, low and smooth. She leaned forward and touched her fingertip to their hands in turn.

"Nice color, 'Cee." Laughed Bee. She snorted at him, looked him over, and answered, "Right back at you, buster."

Sam shook his head, "How you guys adapt to the language so quickly…"

Mikaela laughed, "True. But that red color does look good on you, Arcee, " She walked around the femme, marveling at how an ordinary looking machine could become something so beautifully deadly. Arcee was not quite as tall as Bee, a foot or so shorter, but since her alt mode was much smaller, she appeared much lighter, more fragile. In many ways, Mikaela reflected, Arcee resembled Frenzy more than the other Autobots. Both had light skeletal frames, although Arcee had bigger arms than Frenzy, and her doors had become wings on her back. Her primary color was a beautiful red, shimmering in the light remaining. In the deepening gloom of the approaching night, it was difficult to tell the exact color. She obviously had guns in both forearms and appeared to have shoulder mounted weapons as well. All in all, she looked the deadly warrior Bumblebee had told them about.

It was quickly arranged that Mikaela would take Arcee back to the base while Sam went with Bumblebee. She climbed into the car and motioned for Bee to lead off. As they pulled behind the Camaro, Mikaela leaned forward and ran her hand over the console. Arcee responded by speeding up and pulling alongside Bee. Sam was laughing at them, and the race was on. Mikaela was delighting in the responsiveness of the small car she found herself in. The acceleration was smooth and flawless, Arcee responding to her body movements as they drove and cornered. As they broke away from the city and into the desert, both Autobots sped up, enjoying the race. Suddenly, Bee slowed down and Arcee matched him.

"What's going on?" Mikaela asked, not expecting an answer. She got one, however.

"Ratchet's chewing Bee out for letting me exert myself before I've had a complete check over. Is he always this grumpy?" Arcee responded, her voice coming from below Mikaela's chest.

"Um…yes? He just hates when someone gets hurt doing anything he considers stupid." Mikaela sat up straighter, running her hands over the leather of the seats and marveling at the wonderful feeling it gave her.

"Indeed. Bee says we're only ten minutes away from the base. "

"Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Good."

"Great. Let's go. That was fun!" Arcee accelerated as Mikaela shifted deeper into the seat. Bumblebee matched their speed and they quickly arrived at the supposedly abandoned warehouse the government had offered to the Autobots.

Amid all the bustle from the arriving Autobots, Mikaela moved back to be against the wall. There was less chance of being stepped on, plus she could observe, something she was finding to be more comfortable now that she and Sam were no longer a couple. She tucked herself into one of the niches set along the wall and watched as Sam was introduced to Prowl and Wheeljack. Prowl had chosen his alt mode to mimic Tranquility's police cars. Mikaela suppressed a shudder, remembering the last police car that had transformed. Barricade had been scary, much like the monster that Sam had called him. Wheeljack had chosen a race car, but even Mikaela didn't recognize it. Sam asked, and it turned out to be a Mazda Furai, an amazingly wicked looking car that seemed to be moving even when Wheeljack was standing still. Arcee's alt mode, however, had been pronounced the best by Bee. The Autobots all seemed to be relieved to have more members show up and were more relaxed than Mikaela could ever remember them being. Eventually, they drifted into the groups that Bee had predicted, with Prowl and Optimus retiring to the walled off area that Prime had taken as an office/recharge room, and Ratchet leading Wheeljack down to the medbay he'd set up. Ironhide lingered behind to speak to Bumblebee, then followed the medic and the engineer. Bee spoke to Arcee briefly, then looked over at Mikaela and motioned her to join them.

"Mikaela, Arcee says she'd love to become your guardian if that's alright with you," the scout started, only to be interrupted by the teen's squeal of glee.

"Really? Oh, my god, that would be so awesome! Are you sure it wouldn't be an imposition, Arcee? Because it would be so nice to have transportation of my own, and I wouldn't have to feel so guilty about calling Sam and Bee all the time, and I would feel safer, and that would just be terrific!"

Arcee laughed and replied, "Of course it's not an imposition! I'd be honored to become your guardian. However, I can't join you immediately. Ratchet does need to check me over and give me clearance. I also understand that he has come up with some upgrades to counter some of the Decepticon attacks we've undergone, and I need to have those installed. I believe he'll be done with me in two days. Will that be acceptable?"

Mikaela nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, that will be fine. Actually, I'll probably be helping with the upgrades, since Ratchet's been training me to be an Autobot EMT, so I'll be out here tomorrow since it's Saturday and I basically live out here on the weekends."

"Speaking of weekends," Bumblebee interposed, "You both have curfew, and we should get going."

"Still scared of Mom, Bee?" Sam laughed up at him.

Bee gazed down at his friend and whuffed out air, "Terrified, and you know it. Your mom would scare Decepticons with that bat of hers."

The two teenagers quickly climbed into their friend and headed home for the night.

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Mikaela knocked on the front door of Sam's house. Sam's mom, Judy, opened the door and scolded her. "You're practically family at this point, Mikaela, just come on in!"

"Sorry, Mrs. Witwicky. Is Sam home?"

"Judy, please. Yes, he is. He's up in his room. Go on up."

The girl headed up the stairs and knocked. Sam told her to come in, and she stepped into his messy room. Sam was on his computer and she came up behind him and rested her hands on his shoulders.

"How are you today, Sam?" She queried gently.

He froze momentarily, then visibly relaxed. "I'm…okay, I guess. I just…what was I thinking?"

"That you're in love with him." Mikaela told him.

Sam exploded into motion, pacing around the room and waving his arms. Mikaela leaned against the desk and watched him.

"He's…shit, Mikky, he's a giant robotic organism, he's from another planet, he has a Spark and I don't…what the hell was I thinking?"

Mikaela looked out the window. Bumblebee was conspicuously absent from his normal parking space. She turned her attention back to Sam.

"Sam. You…you have the ability to love deeply and nothing in your life has told you to hold back on that emotion, so you told him. Now you're both freaking out when really, you need to talk to each other and figure out if he loves you back. If he does, then you can start tackling these questions."

"Oh, like you and Arcee are doing?" Sam shot back at her.

"Me and Arcee?" Mikaela could feel her body slackening with shock.

Sam faced her, squaring his shoulders. "If I'm freaking out over saying something but at least I'm doing something. You behave the same way with Arcee as I do with Bee, but you never say anything to her."

"I'm not…" She trailed off.

"Really?" Sam challenged her.

Mikaela thought about what Sam was saying. In the three months since Arcee had come to live with her and be her guardian, she had spent more and more time with the warrior. She and Arcee had long talks about the differences in their cultures, about fighting, about why you would fight, about life in general. Mikaela had to admit to herself that she felt most free around Arcee. It was a question of trust, and she trusted Arcee not just with her life, but with her thoughts and secrets.

"Shit." She stared at Sam.

"Right. Now what?"

"I'll talk to Bee if you'll talk to Arcee." Sam told her.

She sighed and rolled her head on her neck, attempting to loosen the strings of tension that had crept into her muscles.

"Alright."

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Mikaela stepped outside the Witwicky home and crouched down by Arcee. "Sam needs to talk to Bee. Do you know where he is?"

Arcee replied, "He's at the base. I can ask him to come here if you'd like."

"No, I think for this, Sam should go to Bee. Can we take him out there?"

"Of course we can, Mikaela."

"Great. Let me get him and we'll leave."

She re-entered the house and told Sam the plan. He grabbed a jacket and his backpack, and they climbed into Arcee and headed for the Autobot base. Arcee had commed Bumblebee, so they by-passed the main building and headed further into the desert toward a series of rocky hills. Bumblebee stepped out from a large outcropping and silently waited for them. Arcee came to a stop, Sam stepped out and moved toward him. She and Arcee waited until Bee had crouched down to greet Sam and they left.

"Arcee? I need to talk to you. Where can we go?" Mikaela asked her shortly after leaving Sam and Bee behind them.

Arcee veered toward another hill and answered, "We could stay on the base, it would give me more freedom of movement."

"Yeah, that would be good. Let's do that." Mikaela sat up to watch a hawk circling high above them. She loved the top down and Arcee loved to indulge her. The femme continued into the hills, finally pausing several miles away from Bee's location. She stopped, Mikaela got out, and Arcee transformed, stretching out gratefully. Mikaela removed her jacket . Now that they weren't moving, the heat of the desert made wearing the jacket almost impossible. The teen moved up the hillside toward a large boulder jutting out from the surrounding rocks, attractive because it shaded a portion of the hillslope. Mikaela settled in the shade and patted the ground beside her. Arcee watched her carefully then settled her frame where Mikaela indicated. The girl spent a few moments fussing with her purse and jacket and getting her back propped against the rock. Arcee merely watched. Finally, Mikaela sighed and looked at her friend.

"I'm…uh…not sure how to start this." She began.

"Generally, you begin at the beginning and move toward the end," the Autobot informed her.

Mikaela laughed weakly. "Well, yes, but in this case, I'm really not sure where it all began, so it's difficult."

Arcee continued to wait patiently. Mikaela found herself drawing doodles in the dirt and stopped the nervous gesture.

"Sam's in love with Bee. He told Bee last night, and that's why Bee freaked out and Sam needed to talk to him today." Mikaela told the femme.

Arcee digested this information. "I believe Bumblebee returns Sam's feelings, although Bumblebee has not spoken to me of these matters."

"Does it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?" Arcee asked, obviously puzzled.

"That one of your kind and one of my kind would try to get together in a romantic sort of way." Mikaela clarified.

Arcee paused, thinking. After long moments, she slowly answered, "No. Bumblebee will not be the first Cybertronian to have an interspecies relationship, nor will he be the last. " She paused, thinking.

Mikaela found herself staring at the dirt mound she was piling up with her feet. "Good. That's good."

"Why is that good?" The femme wondered.

Mikaela forced her head up and looked into Arcee's optics. "Because…" a deep breath, "…because I think I'm in love with you."

Arcee accepted the words and when she didn't speak, Mikaela leaped into speech herself, "I knew I shouldn't say anything. Why did I agree to this with Sam? I am an idiot. There's no way you have any interest in me, and now I've totally ruined our friendship because I couldn't shut up." By the end of her tirade the teen was on her feet and pacing around. Arcee calmly reached out and wrapped the girl in her hands.

"Mikaela. Stop." She commanded. Mikaela looked up at her, her face flushed and her breathing rapid. "Calm down. Do not make assumptions, please."

The teenager worked on calming herself, indicating finally that she'd like to be released from Arcee's hands. She moved back to her spot against the rock and slumped down onto the ground.

Arcee bent over and touched Mikaela's shoulder. Embarrassed, Mikaela shrugged her hand off. Undaunted, Arcee put it back and spoke, "Mikaela."

The girl was fighting tears and took a few moments to reply, "What, Arcee?"

Arcee waited until Mikaela looked up then told her, "I love you, too."

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Mikaela tucked her head against Arcee's shoulder, cuddling in for warmth. The sun was setting and the desert got cold quickly, but Mikaela was too comfortable to move and get her jacket.

"So, on Cybertron, there are no societal pressures for mechs to match with femmes. Does that mean that mech/mech or femme/femme pairings are common?"

"Since Cybertronians really have no concept of gender, any pairing was usually fine within the society. There were exceptions, but it was mostly focused on differing economic status rather than gender differences or similarities." The warrior explained.

"So homophobia didn't exist?" Mikaela probed.

"I wouldn't say that. Homophobia certainly became an issue just before the war started, but up until that point, it had never really been something to worry about." Arcee answered her.

"Did Cybertronians often pair up?"

"There is not the species pressure to produce offspring, so our society was…freer. Casual pairings that only lasted a vorn or so were quite common. More uncommon were bonded pairs."

"Bonded pairs?"

"Couples that went beyond casual overloads or merging Sparks and actually bonded their Sparks together."

Mikaela shivered and Arcee gathered her closer. "Overloads? Merging? Bonding Sparks together? How does that work? What does it mean?"

Arcee laughed and explained, "Overloads is using direct manipulation of wires, conduits, gears and other parts to allow for an electrical discharge. Much like a human orgasm, really. Talented 'bots can use electric field manipulation to achieve the same effect. Spark merging is overloading by connecting Sparks, but it's not as common since you have to really trust your partner if you expose your Spark to them."

"O…Kay. I think I'm following."

Arcee huffed and clarified, "Look, overloading is like…like having a friend with benefits. You get together, it feels good, but in the end, you're still just friends. Spark merging is like getting married, but it only lasts a few years. There's commitment but it has a finite lifespan. Spark bonding is the real deal, marriage forever, and they're the only pairs that can create new Cybertronian life. Spark bonding isn't just touching Sparks, it's exchanging pieces of Sparks. The other person lives in you and you live in them. You can always connect through the bond even if you're separated by enormous distances."

Mikaela thought about that for awhile. "Do you know of any bonded pairs?"

"Not directly. There are always rumors, but most Cybertronians kept that very private. Some it's obvious because they've been together for so long, but the Decepticons really targeted bonded pairs early in the war."

"Why?" the teenager asked

"If you kill one of a bonded pair, the chances that the other partner will survive are very low. The shock is too much for most Cybertronians to handle, so it was an easy way for the 'Cons to take out two soldiers rather than just one."

"That's horrible!" Mikaela was appalled.

"That's war, Mikaela. Optimus is a good mech and wouldn't use such tactics, but in the early parts of the war, there were certainly a number of commanders that could and did target bonded Decepticon pairs. Optimus put a halt to those tactics. It's…not pretty to watch someone die just because their bonded mate is dead. They give up and their Spark fades quickly." The warrior sounded sad. Mikaela sat up a little bit and noticed that Arcee had a far-away look in her optics. The femme finally looked down at the teenager and smiled at her. Mikaela smiled back and snuggled back into Arcee's arms.

"Did you ever have that happen to you?" She asked.

"I've never bonded with anyone. I've never even merged Sparks. So, no, but I've watched it happen. It's pretty awful, not to mention really bad for morale."

There was quiet between the two for a long time. Full darkness had settled around them before Mikaela spoke again. "Tell me, Arcee, how would this work between us?"

Arcee sounded surprised, "I don't know. I supposed that we would…um…"

"Experiment?"

"Yes."

The girl hummed up at the warrior, moving so that she had her face next to Arcee's. "Arcee?"

"Yes, Mikaela?"

"Can I kiss you?"

The Autobot shifted and answered, "Yes."

Mikaela reached up and stroked the planes of Arcee's face, gently tracing the seams where her cheekplates met her lip components. She outlined Arcee's lips, moving her thumb over the bottom lip. Arcee started to stroke Mikaela's back with her fingertips, gently encouraging the girl to move closer. Mikaela pressed her lips to Arcee's bottom lip, laughing as a spark of static electricity arced between them. It was very mild and didn't hurt, but it was a surprise. The girl drew back and looked up at her guardian. "That was nice."  
"Yes, it was." Arcee responded.

Mikaela shivered again, and this time the warrior reached over and picked up her jacket, handing it to her.  
"We should go back to base. We are too far out." Arcee cast a glance at the sky. Her worry spurred Mikaela to action and they were soon on the road back to the Autobot base.

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"Faster, Arcee, faster!" screamed Mikaela, crouched over the steering wheel as Arcee raced across the desert. Unfortunately, Starscream was faster still, and he transformed in mid-flight, reaching down with his bird-like feet and clutching at the frantically dodging human/Autobot pair. Arcee switched directions so quickly that Mikaela was certain she'd left her stomach somewhere behind her. It was enough to throw Starscream off, but he wasn't alone. Barricade suddenly appeared in front of them and with no easy escape, Arcee transformed, reaching back to grab Mikaela. The fast-thinking teenager grabbed back and swung herself over Arcee's shoulder and down, moving quickly to roll out of the way. She quickly adjusted to a fighting stance just as Frenzy attacked her. She hit him with her purse hard. He was flung back but recovered quickly and resumed his attack. Mikaela evaded his grasping claws and attempted to move away. She gasped as Frenzy's arms split and he suddenly had four arms. She was quickly caught by him. Subduing her took a few minutes more, but Frenzy soon had her bound. Mikaela was crying, horrified to see that Arcee had been taken down by Barricade. Her leg had been torn below the knee and bright spatters of energon were all around her. Barricade had her in some kind of shackles and she was defiantly attempting to break free of the restraints. The sadistic police car finally tired of her and backhanded her into unconsciousness. Mikaela wailed at that, attempting to get closer to her guardian.

"I will take the femme, Barricade. You and Frenzy take the fleshling." Starscream had rejoined them.

"Yes, Lord Starscream." Barricade obediently folded into his altmode and moved closer to Mikaela. She fought Frenzy as he attempted to push her into the vehicle, but it was a losing battle as Barricade partially transformed and removed the door pillar she had been pushing against. She was catapulted into the vehicle, which then resumed his normal car form. Frenzy climbed in the front seat as Mikaela sobbed in the back.

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Mikaela lurched to her feet as the rock blocking the entrance to the small side cave was rolled aside and Barricade came in dragging Arcee. He pulled her past the doorway, then exited and the rock rolled back into place. Before she lost all light, Mikaela moved toward Arcee and was only a couple of steps away by the time the darkness descended. She moved forward, bending down slightly, moving her hands in front of her body. Her fingertips brushed something, and Mikaela moved all the way to Arcee.

"Arcee?"

"Uh…don't feel so good." Arcee groaned.

"Shhh. It'll be OK. Someone will miss us and come to our rescue. You'll see." Mikaela uttered words of reassurance as she felt along Arcee's frame. Her fingers ghosted over the broken armor, seeking new wounds that she would have to try and fix because she could do no less.

"Mikaela. You have to understand…" Arcee rasped.

"Not now I don't. Let me try to stop these wires from sparking like that. It's got to be painful." Mikaela gently separated the ends of the wires so the electricity stopped jumping over the broken expanse.

"Listen to me!" Arcee put a thread of command into her voice that caught the girl's attention. She stopped moving and answered.

"I'm sorry Arcee. I...what is it?" She focused her attention on her friend.

"They're not going to stop. You must understand. They want me to bond with one of them, because now that the Allspark is gone, the only way to ensure the future of our race is to have bonded pairs create new life." The femme told her.

"But…you don't want to do that." Mikaela told her.

"No, I don't. They will force me, do you understand? They'd rather have my cooperation, but they want me. You're expendable. We need to get you out of here before they kill you." The red femme sat up with a mechanical squeal of parts. She rolled to her knees and slowly stood, moving toward the wall of the cave. Reaching it, she slowly reversed the process and sat down, her back against the wall. Mikaela crawled into her lap carefully. Arcee gathered her close and shuttered her optics.

After a long time, the girl asked the question she been wondering since they had been captured.

"Arcee? If…if you were already bonded, could they force you to bond with one of them?"

The warrior let the question run through her processor, examining the implications of the question before answering.  
"If I already had a bond, they could attempt to break it. It would be a lot harder to force a bond on me."

Mikaela nodded. "Could we…would you bond with me?"

Arcee's systems stuttered. "I…don't know if I would hurt you, or if this would work. Mikaela, there's so many uncertainties!"

"I know. I do know. But you said it yourself. They're going to force you, rape you, they're probably going to kill me, and there's no knowing if or when we'll be rescued. I mean, I trust Bee and Sam to do their best, but when you get down to it, we're underground and that masks a lot of energy signatures. I'd..I'd like to try. I love you. Please?" Mikaela was stroking Arcee's chest, moving her fingers over the seams of her armor.

The femme hesitantly brought her hand up to touch the girl, gently stroking her back. Mikaela squirmed and Arcee pulled her hand back.

"No, give me your hand Arcee." The girl commanded. Arcee moved her hand back and Mikaela grabbed it and moved it to her front.

"I like to be touched here." Mikaela told her, showing her how to touch and stroke.

Arcee rumbled and showed Mikaela how to stroke the edges of the plates, sliding fingertips over the sensitive nodes that lined the bottom of each plate. Eagerly Mikaela dove in, fingering wires and cables, causing Arcee to groan and move to a position better suited for their activity. She continued to move her fingers over Mikaela, noting what caused the teen to gasp, using her infrared to note the increasing blood flow to various parts of her body. She stroked her thumb over Mikaela's abdomen and down, stopping when Mikaela gasped loudly and pushed back against her.

"Does that feel good?" Arcee asked.

"Mmmm, oh yeah, it does. Oh, do that again!" As Arcee moved a finger between Mikaela's legs and gently pressed up, rubbing against her body. Mikaela's hands clenched around the wires she had in her hands, and Arcee expelled hot air and felt her chest plates start to move.

"Mikaela, lift your hands, please!" She commanded. The teen moved her hands away as the femme's chest plates lifted to the sides, shifting and reconfiguring. Once done, Mikaela moved back and reached to touch the silvery grey orb nestled in the center of Arcee's chest. They both moved to continue their explorations. Arcee praised Mikaela's small hands with her words and her movements as the teen was able to slide her hands deeply around the Spark chamber and stroke it along the sides and back where it had never been touched before. As they continued, Mikaela moved faster against Arcee's body, and Arcee felt her Spark chamber start to open. At the first glimpse of light, Mikaela sat up and allowed the chamber to cycle open.

"Can I touch it?" the teen asked, her expression awed at the silvery blue light beaming forth.

"Yes, carefully. Stroke the edges first." Arcee told her. Mikaela slid a hand to the edge and began running her fingers over the chamber's plating. Arcee's Spark curled tendrils of energy around Mikaela's hand. The teen allowed her hand to be coaxed by the tendrils over the Spark itself. She opened her hand and moved it over Arcee's Spark and Arcee's body bowed as the energy began to build. Not wanting to be a selfish lover, Arcee moved her hands against Mikaela, stroking along her back and over her rear with one hand while using the other rub against Mikaela's front as best she could, given that Mikaela was practically lying on her to access the Spark chamber. Mikaela brought her other hand into play and now had both hands splayed over the Spark. Arcee could feel her protocols rewriting themselves, establishing a bond on Arcee's part.

Mikaela suddenly plunged her hands into Arcee's Spark and the femme overloaded with a shriek, pushing energy out. With both hands in the femme's spark, Mikaela conducted energy through her body and back into Arcee, establishing an energy loop between them. Arcee overloaded again and the energy continued to pulse between them. Finally the energy wasn't powerful enough to push Arcee over the edge and she became aware that every vent and fan she had was working to expel the excess heat from her frame.

"Mikaela, are you alright?" She lifted her head and looked at her lover.

The teen raised her head from Arcee's chest and smiled at her. "Oh, yeah. I'm great." She allowed her head to go back down and Arcee did a quick scan which showed that Mikaela was more relaxed than Arcee had ever seen.

"Mikaela, talk to me, please." The femme moved her lover's body aside so she could close the Spark's chamber.

"Hm…best orgasms of my life." The girl hummed up at her, her body limp and sated. She was heading straight for recharge. Arcee hummed back and closed her chest plates, draping Mikaela back over her as they both went to sleep.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o00o0o0o0o00o

The sound of the boulder being moved brought them both awake hours later. Mikaela had to admit that she was hungry, thirsty and dirty, but she was certainly no longer tired. Sex was certainly the best sleeping pill she'd ever had. She scrambled off Arcee and both stood to face their captors.

Starscream entered the cave and immediately whirled around, looking at the blue and silver mech next to him.

"Affirmative, Lord Starscream." The blue mech said in a flat voice.

Starscream let out a shriek that had Mikaela covering her ears. He snarled out an order in a staticky, buzzy language and Arcee moved forward to place herself between Mikaela and the Decepticons. Barricade moved forward and slapped Arcee, who moved with the blow and came up behind him, her hands forming into blades as she slammed them toward the back of his head. He howled as the blades made contact. Starscream stepped forward and plucked Arcee back away from Barricade and shoved her against the wall of the cave, holding her up by her throat and leaning his face next to her.

"So you thought you'd escape us that way, did you? Your little pet will pay the price for your conniving ways, whore." He turned and nodded at Barricade, who in turn looked down at Mikaela. She tried to run but he caught her easily. Furious, Mikaela twisted in his grip and shimmied out of her shirt leaving it in his grasp as she dropped to the floor and again made a run for it. Her move was unexpected and she made quite a bit of progress before her way was blocked by the blue mech. He merely reached down and caught her, then handed her to Barricade.

"Prisoner: escaping" He intoned.

"Yeah, slag you." Barricade snarled and holding Mikaela hard enough to leave bruises, he moved closer to Arcee and Starscream. He converted his fingers to blades and leaning close to Arcee, began to talk.

"Was it good, femme? I should have known that you had a taste for other femmes. Real mechs aren't good enough for you, are they? Such a waste, giving yourself to a pitiful example of fleshlings such as this one." He drew a claw down Mikaela's body, leaving a trail of blood as the girl screamed at the pain that blossomed in the wound's wake. Barricade continued, "Did you think we were going to ignore your attachment to the humans? They are unworthy, a dirty, fractious species, unable to achieve the greatness of the Cybertronian race." He drew another line on Mikaela's body and the girl lurched in his grip.

"Fuck you! Bumblebee kicked your aft and he's the littlest Autobot here. You think you're so great, but I noticed that not a one of you will actually take on Optimus toe to toe. You run and hide and try to take out your aggressions on the smallest and weakest. That's not a warrior, that's a bully!" Mikaela raged.

"Shut up, human!" Barricade slapped her and blood spattered against Arcee and Starscream from the cuts left across Mikaela's face.

"Mikaela, no, don't say anything! You're making it worse!" Arcee told her, reaching toward the girl. She cried out as Starscream slapped her arm hard, breaking it at the joint. He then leaned against her harder, sneering, "You care more for that pitiful little pet than for yourself, do you?"

Arcee glared at him defiantly, "Yes. She's far more worthy of my concern than anyone else here."

Barricade looked at Starscream as the titular leader of the Decepticons showed his rage by squeezing Arcee's throat until the components squealed and started to crumble. Starscream growled and loosened his hold, telling Barricade, "Kill her. She's of no use to me…"

The roar of cannons interrupted him and Mikaela laughed, "The Autobots are here. That's Ironhide. Now what are you losers going to do?"

Barricade answered by plunging his claws through her and pulling. Mikaela's laughter was choked off as her lungs were shredded. The shock trooper dropped her and moved to the exit, pausing to let Starscream out first. The blue mech had already disappeared. Arcee drug herself over to Mikaela where the girl writhed as she was overwhelmed by pain.

"Mikaela, oh Primus, Mikaela hang on! We'll get Ratchet here, he'll fix you!" Arcee was now chanting reassurances as she wrapped the girl in gentle embrace than bracketed her bloody body with the femme's arms and torso.

"No, too late." Came the weak whisper. "I'm dying. Arcee…I love you. Please…please remember me." Mikaela choked out.

Arcee lowered her head over the girl. "Always. You will always live in my memory. I love you…"

Mikaela's body seemed to collapse as a last breath left her, and Arcee shuddered as the life signs of her lover flatlined on her scans.

"Arcee! Are you…oh, Primus." Bumblebee had come barreling into the cave, his weapons at the ready. "Oh, Mikaela."

Arcee looked up at him sadly. "She was distracting them from torturing me."

Bumblebee returned her gaze. "She went back into the fight at Mission City even though she was scared and could have kept running. She went back and helped me kill Brawl."

Arcee ran a finger across Mikaela's brow, smoothing away the hair. "They are so brave for a species that lives such short lives."

"Perhaps they are so brave because they have short lives. They may not be able to run away and fight another day, so they fight that day." Bee told her.

"Perhaps. Right now, though, I'd like to get out of here." Arcee carefully scooped Mikaela's body up and stood. Bumblebee moved in front of her, his weapons still ready.

"I don't think we'll have any problems. Barricade was ready to fight, but Starscream took off and Soundwave followed, so with no backup, Barricade took off too. We don't know if Frenzy was with them, but he's the only one unaccounted for right now."

Arcee nodded and followed Bee through the maze of caves. Stepping outside, she shuttered her optics until they could adjust to the amount of light coming from the sun.

Optimus came out from another entrance and stepped forward, his optics dimming as he took in the sight of Mikaela's body gently cradled in Arcee's arms.

"I am grieved by the loss of our friend, Arcee. Are you safe?"

Arcee nodded, her head hanging over the body in her arms. "They were unable to bond with me, Prime, but…Mikaela. I am…I know that war means loss of life, but I've never been this close to someone before, and I…" Arcee slowly sank to her knees unable to vent her grief. Optimus crouched beside her and wrapped her in his arms.

"We shall grieve together, then." He told her.

"Thank you." Arcee choked out.

Optimus helped her stand and the force of Autobots moved away. They were not that far from their own base, and none of them chose to use their alt forms. Instead, they strode across the desert land. Bumblebee came beside Arcee and looked over at her. He didn't say anything, but she understood. Even if Mikaela had survived they would not have had very long together. She instead focused her energy on writing every memory she had of Mikaela to her most basic processor, choosing to honour her friend in that way.

In time, the hurt would dissolve, the grief would fade, but the bravery and memory would remain.

A/N: I do not like pink, and I find that making the femmes only girly colors really annoys me. I think the femmes are much stronger than mechs give them credit for, and I chose a strong color for Arcee to match Mikaela's strength and courage exhibited in the movie. The Lotus Elise SC is a cute little car with a lot of power and kick ass looks. I hope you like this alt form for Arcee.


End file.
